A Reflection on Summer from the House of Wright

With summer behind us and autumn ahead

With so many memories filling my head

It seems like the right time to pause and reflect

      You follow our blog, so that’s what you expect

We live at the beach, always sand in our toes

We splashed in the ocean, we played with the hose

We dressed in our red and our blue and our white

We made lots of s’mores in the dark of the night

The girls had adventures in cities way far

We ate too much junk food while driving the car

We took them to Camp, where they learned to be leaders

Then off to New York where we took them to theaters

Miss Bitty, she shined with her big brother Beau

When they wowed a huge crowd at a fun fashion show

We had a few birthdays and got a new bike

We learned to play drums in the still of the night

We shared lots of hugs and we cuddled in bed

We played Bingo too with balloons on our head

We laid in the driveway and watched the sun set

We chased our dog Piper – most tolerant pet

The days passed too fast in a blink of an eye

Our summer was gone, but not one of us cried

We packed up our packs and we headed to school

To see our old friends and to follow some rules

So goodbye to summer and hot humid nights

And stay tuned for fall from the house of the Wrights

Defying Gravity – a new kind of hero

When I was a little girl, I dreamed that one day I would compete as a gymnast at the Olympic Games. While I never saw the Games in person, I tuned in my television every four years to watch my heroes defy gravity. I identified with these amazing athletes and I aspired to be just like them one day.

Tomorrow night, a different kind of Olympics is about to take center stage. For the first time in history, The Special Olympics World Games will be televised during Prime Time on ESPN. This is truly a “game changer” for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and for those of us that love them.

When I told Beau that the Special Olympics were going to be on television, he was so excited. Imagine how he’ll feel when he sees someone with Down syndrome competing in the national spotlight? Beginning tomorrow, new heroes will be born and my little boy might just begin to believe that he too, can defy gravity.

Click here for more information about the Special Olympics World Games 

Wright Appointed To National Down Syndrome Board

We’re ordinary people that have been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences. A few months ago, Beau & Bitty’s dad, Ben, was  asked to join the National Down Syndrome Society Board of Directors. With a humble heart and a fire in his belly, Ben is ready to advocate for the value, acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome. Couldn’t be prouder of you Ben Wright!

Wilmington Business Journal  – BY JOE LOWE, POSTED APR 21, 2015

Wilmington-resident Ben Wright recently joined the National Down Syndrome Society’s board of directors, according to a news release.

“As the proud father of two children with Down syndrome, this appointment is especially important to me,” Wright said in the release.

Wright is president of Dye Creek Capital, an independent investment practice associated with Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network LLC. The practice serves individuals and businesses in basic investment planning. In addition to registered support staff, he employs eight employees with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“This way of doing business allows me to live out my convictions and makes my professional life as authentic as my personal life,” he said.

“Ben is a tremendous leader in the Down syndrome and broader disability community, and an amazing advocate for his two children with Down syndrome,” Sara Hart Weir, National Down Syndrome Society president, said in the release. “Ben’s leadership in paving the way for more competitive employment opportunities for people with disabilities in North Carolina is an example of what is needed now, especially on the heels of the passage of the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, and we look forward to Ben’s leadership in helping us replicate these types of employment programs nationwide.”

It’s the Most Wonderful Day of the Year!

To most, today is just another day.

To our family, it’s a day that strengthens our spirits, renews our hope and energizes our passion for creating a better world for Beau & Bitty.

In this big world we live in, being the parents of children with special needs can sometimes feel very lonely – but not today.

Today is Spread the Word to End the Word Day – a day when people pledge to show respect through their words & actions by taking the pledge to not use the r-word. It’s no secret that our language affects our attitudes and when someone uses the r-word it’s both dehumanizing and hurtful to those living with an intellectual disability and those of us that love them.  With each pledge that is made to end the r-word, our world becomes a little more accepting and inclusive of people with intellectual disabilities – which is exactly why today doesn’t feel so lonely.

Today, as I watch Beau & Bitty’s teachers proudly wear their t-shirts to school or see the stream of people sharing our video on Facebook or witness hearts changing as students sign a banner at our girl’s high school, I feel part of a community that accepts and values our family exactly as we are.

 As advocates for our children, we oftentimes feel like we’re swimming upstream, but today, it feels like there’s a strong undercurrent that’s carrying us along.

Our heartfelt thanks to all that have and continue to support us.

Beau’s Red Carpet Premiere of LITTLE ACCIDENTS

A hush washed over the cinema lobby.

Sandwiched in between hundreds of people, I found myself panning the crowd taking in the palpable excitement in the air.

With reporters and cameras poised and a red carpet unfurled, we were ready for this moment – a moment that began nearly two years ago when we first received the call that changed the course of Beau’s life, as we learned he had been cast in the film, LITTLE ACCIDENTS.

What has unfolded since that day has brought Beau more happiness, confidence and affirmation than most of us experience in a lifetime.

Not only did he realize his potential as an actor, he carved out a place for himself in the world and in doing so found an identity that made him feel incredibly proud.

He had become a “star”.

STAR: An object when placed in a certain position can influence people’s lives.

 As the crowd erupted with applause, Beau took his place on the red carpet and owned every word of that definition.

For the next few hours, Beau posed for pictures, shook hands, shared hugs, answered reporter’s questions, signed autographs and thanked every one of his guests for being a part of his special day.

 The icing on the cake came the next day in a Wall Street Journal review of the film which said,

“Another stellar performance comes from Beau Wright, who has Down Syndrome, as Lofland’s little brother, James.”

 Reading the words stellar and Down syndrome in the same sentence is exactly the kind of influence our “star” was making in this world!

 

Watch WECT News coverage of the Beau’s RED CARPET PREMIERE of LITTLE ACCIDENTS by clicking below

Read more about the RED CARPET PREMIERE by clicking HERE

A Great Adventure!

It was the summer of 2013, as the sun rose over the hills of West Virginia and the cameras began to roll that Beau began the greatest adventure of his life so far – filming the independent feature film, LITTLE ACCIDENTS.

From that moment forward, Beau found his new identity – an identity that made him feel capable, talented, successful and valued – adjectives that aren’t often used to describe people with Down syndrome – but on that day, Beau felt all of those things and more as he became a “movie star”.

What has unfolded since that summer has not only been a great adventure for Beau, but for our entire family and I’d venture to say that it’s been a great ride for all of you that have followed Beau’s journey, too.

One week from today, LITTLE ACCIDENTS will be released nationwide and also available on iTunes.

To celebrate this much anticipated day, our family will be hosting a Red Carpet Premiere of the movie in our hometown of Wilmington.

For our little guy that was born blind and walked with leg braces until he was three, this moment will once again prove that he is capable, talented, successful and valued.

Let Beau’s story remind you that ANYTHING is possible.

Beau & Bitty

Beau & Bitty have Down syndrome.

They also have a big sister that is determined to show the world how awesome they are!

This 76 second video may change what you think you know about Down syndrome.

Click on the photo below to watch pure joy!

Here’s the link just in case…https://vimeo.com/115497764

Video created by our 14 year old daughter, Emma Grace Wright at Little Peanut Pictures.

 

Twas’ the Night Before Christmas

 Twas’ the night before Christmas with Bitty and Beau

Dressed in their jammies from head to their toe

Their smiles were glowing, their faces were bright

They’d waited all year for this most special night

Their joy was contagious, their spirits were high

They hoped for a visit from one special guy

The air was electric, the lights were a glow

Our kids were all ready for Santa to show

And then something happened without any warning

Their smiles they grew larger than Christmas morning

They rushed down the stair and jumped high with great joy

As if they’d received just the very best toy

Their faces were glowing, their arms opened wide

To greet the big man that had just stepped inside

His eyes welled with tears as I’d seen times before

In fact every time he walked through our front door

He scooped them both up and held them so near

And then Beau exclaimed, “Dad, I’m so glad you’re here”

I’d seen this before, but it still made me pause

They knew Daddy’s love was much better than “Claus”

With hearts filled with love there’s just one thing to say

With our Beau & Bitty, each day’s Christmas Day.

Huffington Post features Dye Creek Capital

My husband, Ben, and his business, Dye Creek Capital, http://www.dyecreekcapital.com, were recently featured by the Huffington Post.  As you’ll read in the excerpt below, Ben left his job at a Wall Street firm to start Dye Creek Capital, a business focused on providing employment opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  Additionally, Ben and one of his amazing employees, Jeffrie, were interviewed by HuffPost Live.   With an estimated 85% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities UNEMPLOYED, stories like this will hopefully inspire other businesses to follow suit and help change these statistics.

Click on the image below to watch the interview.

This Man Ditched Wall Street To Start A Business That Hires People With Disabilities

The Huffington Post  | By Robbie Crouch

Posted: 10/30/2014 1:22 pm EDT

Ben Wright began seeing the world differently when his two youngest children were born with Down syndrome.

He realized educational and career opportunities would be much tougher to come by for kids that are deemed less able to succeed in the eyes of society, so he decided to leave his job at a Wall Street firm and ensure a future for children like his own.

“What we noticed was — at about age 21, 22, 23, at least here in North Carolina — folks with (intellectual and developmental disabilities) just sort of fell off the grid,” he told HuffPost Live on Tuesday. “We selfishly didn’t want our children to be in the same spot years going forward, so we thought we’d put our money where our mouth is, and make our professional lives as authentic as our personal lives.”

Wright’s new venture, Dye Creek Capital, would function differently than most other companies. The first thing the businessman did was hire nine adults who have some sort of intellectual or developmental disability, or IDD, to help the office run smoothly. As hospitality associates, Wright’s first employees greet clients, offer them something to drink, and even give gifts — like homemade granola or flowers grown in the garden outside — to visitors, he told HuffPost Live.

Wright said his employees with IDD are fantastic, capable, and reliable workers who always make it in to the office on time.

While the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 12.3 percent of people with disabilities were unemployed in September (well above the rate of people without disabilities), the Institute for Corporate Productivity discovered about 70 percent of people specifically with IDD are unemployed. However, a survey released by the institute earlier this month revealed organizations that have hired people with IDD give those workers high marks in terms of attendance records, attention to work quality and productivity. What’s more, hiring them helped their bottom lines, too.

Jeffrie Blaylock, one of Wright’s hospitality associates, said it’s a positive feeling knowing he’s valued by his employer.

“There were a lot of people that I’ve met that always were telling me, ‘I can’t do this, I cannot do that,'” Blaylock told HuffPost Live. “It was a great feeling [to be hired at Dye Creek Capital], because I felt like good people believed in me.”

53 Facts About Down Syndrome

All month long, I’ve been sharing facts about Down syndrome on my Facebook page.  As Down Syndrome Awareness Month comes to a close, I couldn’t think of a better post than to share those 53 facts here on the blog.  Enjoy!

FACT #1 Beau & Bitty have an extra copy of the 21st chromosome.

FACT #2 Beau & Bitty give the best hugs.

FACT #3 There are more than 400,000 people living with Down syndrome in the United States.

FACT #4 Beau & Bitty have the most amazing big sisters in the whole entire world.

FACT #5 Beau has hopes & dreams just like everybody else. One day he plans to drive a car, skydive, be in more movies and become a chef or a doctor. He also plans to get married one day.

FACT #6 Years ago, people with Down syndrome were usually institutionalized,with the assumption that they were unable to learn.

FACT #7 Bitty loves reading books…lots & lots of books!

FACT #8 Approximately 1 in every 700 babies in the United States is born with Down syndrome.

FACT #9 We won the lottery twice!

FACT #10 We’re more alike than different.

FACT # 11 Beau has an extra copy of the 21st chromosome.

FACT # 12 Beau’s extra chromosome rocks!

FACT #13 Starting in infancy, most children with Down syndrome receive early intervention therapies including physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.

FACT #14 Bitty never misses a chance to dance!

FACT #15 Happiness is just one of the many feelings people with Down syndrome experience in life.

FACT #16 Beau is sometimes referred to as “Mr. Grumpy Pants”

FACT #17 It’s estimated that 9 out of 10 couples choose to terminate their pregnancy when they receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome.

FACT #18 If those same couples knew Beau & Bitty, those statistics would undoubtedly change.

FACT #19 A diagnosis does not define a person.

FACT #20 Beau likes to define himself as a “movie star”

FACT #21 Socializing and forming meaningful relationships is just as important to people with Down syndrome as it is to you & me.

FACT #22 Beau deeply loves his friends.

FACT #23 Raising a child with Down syndrome may cause excessive joy!

FACT #24 An individual with Down syndrome is an individual first and foremost. When referring to a person with Down syndrome, please put the emphasis on the person, not the disability ex: “The person with Down syndrome”, not “the Down syndrome person”.

FACT #25 Beau is a son, brother, friend, student, actor and athlete who also happens to have Down syndrome.

FACT #26 People with Down syndrome may share certain physical traits, but they also share the traits of their family.

FACT #27 Bitty looks just like me.

FACT #28 Beau & Bitty have awesome lives. There’s no prenatal test for that.

FACT #29 When people use the R-word ‘retard(ed)’ it not only hurts people with Down syndrome, it hurts the people who love them.

FACT #30 Taking the pledge to end the R-word is a starting point toward creating more accepting attitudes and communities for all people.

FACT #31 Nobody steals home like Beau.

FACT #32 More than 60% of children with Down syndrome have vision problems. Less than 3% of babies with Down syndrome are born with congenital cataracts. Cataracts prevent a clear image from being delivered to the brain and therefore the brain is at risk for never “learning” to see.

FACT #33 Beau was born blind. His daddy discovered he had cataracts when he was 8 weeks old. Thanks to his daddy, Beau now sees.

FACT #34 Beau & Bitty’s lives enrich the lives of others and the world around them in significant and irreplaceable ways.

FACT #35 A national study asked brothers and sisters about their feelings and perceptions toward their sibling with Down syndrome. Nearly 90% felt that they were better people because of their siblings with Down syndrome.

FACT #36 “Best friends bring out the best in you. I guess that means Beau & Bitty are my best friends.” ~ Emma Grace Wright, big sister extraordinaire

FACT #37 There’s no limit to what people with Down syndrome can achieve.

FACT #38 There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Beau joined his daddy onstage to sing with the Symphony Orchestra.

FACT #39 Approximately half of all infants born with Down syndrome have a heart defect.

FACT #40 A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles. (Beau and our little miracle, Bitty)

FACT #41 The best gift I ever gave my children was each other.

FACT #42 Beau & Bitty have an extra copy of the 21st chromosome in every cell of their body.

FACT #43 Sometimes I look at Beau & Bitty and think it’s not that they have an extra chromosome, it’s that the rest of us are missing one.

FACT #44 Approximately 4,000,000 babies are born in the U.S. each year.
1 in every 691 babies is born with Down syndrome.
Approximately 90% of couples choose to terminate their pregnancy when they receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome.
Approximately 52,000 pregnancies are terminated EACH YEAR when parents receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome.

FACT #45 Approximately 58,000 Americans lost their lives in the Vietnam War. EVERY YEAR, there are almost as many pregnancies terminated because parents receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome as there were casualties in the entire Vietnam War.

FACT #46 People are afraid of the unknown. If we can change just one couple’s perspective by sharing our family’s journey, it is enough. If we can change the culture of our society and in doing so influence our nation’s statistics, then we will rest.

FACT #47 Love doesn’t count chromosomes.

FACT #48 People “have” Down syndrome, they do not “suffer from” it and are not “afflicted by” it.

FACT #49 Beau has Down syndrome. He also has an infectious laugh and a fantastic imagination.

FACT #50 I wouldn’t change you for the world. Instead, I’ll change the world for you.

FACT #51 The absence and/or misrepresentation of people with Down syndrome and other intellectual and developmental disabilities in main stream media reflects the reality of our society, which continues to struggle to include people with different abilities.

FACT #52 For six weeks on the set of LITTLE ACCIDENTS, Beau poured himself into the experience of movie making. From memorizing his lines to taking direction, Beau proved to himself and everyone else that he was not only capable of the job, he was worthy.

FACT #53 I am blessed!